The irons came from Craig's list. I got them (the full set, not just the ones I carry) along with the Perfect Club, a putter, and a bag for $100. The Maxfli putter is new ... got it for $40. The sand wedge was the same price. The Nike 3W was lightly used from Golf Galaxy, and is a significant upgrade over what I had. I like that club a lot.

The Pro460 driver and the DM hybrids were purchased on sale at Golf Galaxy for .. get this .. $10 each. They're okay clubs. I'm looking to upgrade the driver (maybe tomorrow .. it's my bday!) but the hybrids are fine for now. I don't use the 18-degree very often, but I'm getting much better at hitting the 21-degree.

My bag is how I want it right now. I'm finding it hard to think of a club I need to upgrade at the moment, but I have a feeling that somewhere down the line I'll need better wedges.

My driver is a Ping G15 with 12* of loft and a stiff shaft. I've hit a few over 270 with it, but my typical distance is about 230 to 250.

My hybrids are the Adams Idea Tech A4OS Boxer hybrids. I bought the 2h separately, but I haven't learned to hit it yet. I've just learned to dial in the 5h from a tee or the fairway, and I'm getting good enough with the 4h off the tee to pull out the 3h every once in a while. These all have regular flex shafts because I tend to swing them softer than my driver.

My irons are also the Adams Idea Tech A403 irons. They have a thickeer base for a lot more bounce from the rough if needed, and they tend to play a lot like a hybrid. These are my 6i, 7i, 8i, 9i, and Pi.

My wedges are Adams Pro Forged Gold wedges, and I do love them. They don't spin like my buddy's Vokeys, but I'm more of a bumper and runner. The one flaw in my set is the fact that my Pi is 44 degrees while my SW is 50 degrees. That six degrees of difference isn't very noticable with a full swing, but it is very noticable on chip shots.

Funny story, here. I actually thought I new the difference between a mallet and a blade putter. A blade putter is shafted on the heel while the mallet is shafted in the middle, right?

I guess I was wrong.

I thought my White Steel Two-Ball putter was a blade putter, but it turns out I was wrong. The shape and weight distribution along with the fact that it's not shafted at the heel (even though it's shafted near the heel) actually makes it a mallet putter.

I'm in the process of upgrading all of the clubs in my bag. When I first started playing last summer, I went really cheap.

**snip**

UPDATE: With some Golf Galaxy gift cards I got for my bday, I've upgraded my driver to a Nike Sumo2 5900 -- 10.5* face and stiff shaff. I got it used for $77 ... pristine condition. Took it to the driving range yesterday afternoon and got some very good results. It took a little getting used to because it's a stiffer flex than my old DM driver, but I hit about 10 balls with it and one of them went 250 yards. The longest I've ever hit the ball in a round is 235-240. I'm encouraged. So ... here's my upgraded bag:

I am thinking of dropping the driver for the time being because it is costing me more shots than I gain in distance at the moment. I also feel that the stock shaft is to soft in flex even for my relatively low swingspeed.

3 Wood through SW have Grafalloy shafts. Driver has the stock regular shaft.

Learn hoe to use the Driver. Practice. With no ball. You can really learn a lot by practicing your stroke with no ball. Try that and see if you are able to image hitting a ball. Your stroke will be just as you practice it whether there is a ball there or not.